Print Mailer: Search by Specialty Oar Location

By Peter Clark

June is a stupendous month to get outside and explore all that Mother Nature has to offer. The great outdoors in the summer inspired us to choose New Zealand photographer Rory Carter and his rapidless river riders (say that five times fast) for our June print mailer. Originally shot for Sanyo, we repurposed the image to promote Wonderful Machine. At first glance you might be wondering what the heck Sanyo is trying to advertise here. Well, the ads are actually for weatherproof outdoor flat panel LCD monitors. Their campaign slogan was “water can’t get in.” Our version was printed on postcards by Modern Postcard and was distributed to clients across the US and Canada.

Although I don’t see myself paddling down raging rapids anytime soon, a nice tube ride on a quiet river sounds good to me. But in the meantime, I’ll let Rory fill you in on what went into this waterless Sanyo shoot:

This was shot as part of a print campaign, which I specialize in. Saatchi and Saatchi Auckland approached me to collaborate on a series of  ads for Sanyo, showing everyday events involving lots of water, then suddenly having it disappear. The tricky part to this shot was in finding a fast flowing river in a gorge…without any water in it. At first we thought of treating this as a set and trying to build the shot up with huge rocks etc. This just lost the realism of the scenario, so we went location scouting instead. I happened to talk with a department of conservation officer one day and he told me about a local gorge where there were frequent flash floods. Basically, lots of water….then none. Perfect! We cast talent, called in a few mates who were perfect for this type of shoot and headed for the gorge, inflatable raft and all. It is very satisfying working alongside such good creatives and realizing their ideas.

If you’re ready to take your marketing to the next level with print or email promos, reach out!